Translation & adaptation (transcreation)

Finance, securities, legal, IT & photography

Direct contact. Better communication. Better results.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, I am a German to English translator with 21 years of translation experience and nearly 20 years of business experience in Germany. I’m a U.S. citizen (English mother tongue & fluent in German).

Email me to review your German to English project requirements and I’ll provide you with a quote. Please include a copy of the text to be translated and any other project-relevant details. See Translation Quote Tips & Info below for more information. For legal and official documents such as birth certificates, I can provide an accompanying notarized statement (a “notarized translation”). Translation projects with a “Statement that two documents have the same meaning” must be delivered in hard copy format. All materials are treated as strictly confidential.

(904) 384-5279

(877) 304-1183

When you phone, please note that I monitor incoming calls when I am working on projects. Kindly leave a message and include your name and phone number so I can return your call.

If I am unable to take on your project, I’ll let you know immediately and refer you, if possible, to a colleague who may be able to help.

BACKGROUND

A U.S. citizen, I was raised in a multi-lingual German & English-speaking environment.

I hold a BBA in finance and marketing management from Baruch College (CUNY, NYC).

My post-college work experience began with a two-year stint on Wall Street, during which time I obtained various financial / securities certifications.

In 1981, I moved to Germany to work for a well-known private bank on their 3-person International Securities desk. Five years later, I accepted an offer to join a newly formed sales department at another bank in Frankfurt. The position ended in 1989 when several departments were reorganized. I continued working in the financial arena in Frankfurt until my return to the U.S. in 1997.

During my decades in Germany, I attended a wide variety of specialist seminars and conferences, all of which were naturally held in German. The seminars were in the areas of banking, securities, investment, IT/software/hardware and photography (i.e. composition, darkroom techniques).

I’ve been living and translating in Jacksonville, Florida since 1997 and founded www.translategerman.com in March 1998.

Member of the American Translators Association.

It goes without saying that my translations – and my clients – benefit from my having lived and worked for decades in both the United States and Germany.

GERMAN TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION QUOTE TIPS & INFO

TRANSLATION QUOTE TIPS

Please email me the full text and describe your project and the service(s) you require. Include any relevant reference materials, prior translations and other requirements (style guides, terminology lists) you may have. Remember to include your full contact info.

It is also helpful to know who will receive and read the translation (your target audience).

After I’ve reviewed your project and prior to sending you my quote, I may contact you for additional information or to clarify your aims and requirements for the project.

If you just need to know what a document says, its implications and if it requires a response, you might only need a summary and not a full translation. This can be handled in several ways (phone, email, in person) and will be faster and cheaper than a full translation.

It often happens that the language in the German brochure or website you want translated into English for the US market should be adapted and not just translated. This is called adaption or transcreation and takes longer than a normal translation project. Transcreation will cost a bit more, but it is a worthwhile investment.

The quality and usefulness of the deliverable is improved if you let me know its purpose and the target market. This is true for private individuals as well as corporate clients.

For example:

A company brochure that will be posted online as a downloadable pdf and used as a handout at trade shows. The terminology in the brochure should be harmonized with the terminology on the company’s existing English-language website. If it turns out there are numerous inconsistencies or errors on the English-language website, the project might need to be expanded to include a later or simultaneous or review of the English language website.

The English translation of a German-language birth certificate to be submitted to an authority will require an accompanying notarized statement and must be delivered in hard copy format.

The English translation of a German-language birth certificate for genealogical purposes can be delivered by email (MS Word, PDF).

Other variables that impact project cost include the text’s length and the difficulty, the amount and difficulty of the formatting and graphics or other items that also require translation. Non-editable formats such as PDF and JPG files can sometimes be successfully processed via OCR to generate an editable German language source-language file to work from. When this is not possible the translation & formatting is created ‘from scratch’ using a print out of your non-editable source file; this takes longer. Documents may contain uncommon acronyms and abbreviations that require research. A rush deadline, weekend work and an accompanying notarized statement will incur additional charges.

TRANSLATION QUOTE INFO

For German to English translation, adaptation / transcreation projects, I usually quote an all-in project price in USD.

The quote takes into account all aspects of your project e.g. the deadline, the length and difficulty of the text, formatting, editable vs non-editable text, notarized statement required.

All other project types (editing, proofreading, consulting, research, summary/abstracting, sight translation) are quoted and charged at an hourly rate. For hourly rate projects, I can provide you with an estimate based on my experience though the final amount may differ.

Rush projects and weekends will incur a surcharge.

If you have a firm deadline, please let me know the circumstances and keep me posted if there are any changes. This keeps everyone happy and your project on-schedule.

When I receive your inquiry, I will take a careful look at the text and all of your requirements. I will contact you if necessary to discuss project details with you.

I normally prepare and send quotes with 24 hours following receipt of your a request.

Next steps:

When all of the project details have been clarified, I will email you, in accordance with what has been agreed upon, an Order Confirmation / Payment Request or Deposit Request with all of the project details, the deadline and the payment information.

When your payment has cleared, I’ll confirm receipt and begin working on your project according to the agreed upon schedule.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

As many of my translation projects are for German companies or pertain to companies in German-speaking countries, I am aware of my responsibility to remain impartial in all regards. Should there be an extraordinary situation where I discover there is or may potentially be a conflict of interest, I will disclose this promptly.

I do not directly own shares or any other type of security or derivative in any specific German, Austrian, Swiss or Luxembourg-based company. I may however hold positions in German or European ETFs or sector ETFs which could include such individual securities or derivatives.

Upon request, I will gladly sign a standard non-disclosure agreement.

I am sensitive to my responsibilities with regard to data protection (See: GDPR)

LEGAL INFO

As a client, please be aware that you are solely responsible for the use of translations you have purchased from me and that you shall be solely responsible for complying with all copyright laws in all countries involved.

Clients hereby agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend Carol A. Mueller [and her agents when / if applicable] against any claims for damages pertaining to copyright infringements due to client’s use of her translation (or other language service) or due to the client’s use of any other copyrighted material.

By ordering a translation (or other language services) from Carol A. Mueller, you represent and warrant that the services you are requesting from her are for lawful purposes only. Moreover, you represent and warrant that the source materials you are requesting her to translate (or other service) do not include stolen, obscene, defamatory, other illegal materials, or contain information that is proprietary, confidential, trademarked or copyrighted that belongs to a third party, without the express written consent of the rightful owner of such information

Terms & Conditions:

All deliverables remain the property of Carol A. Mueller German to English Translation Services (www.translategerman.com) until full payment has been received and has cleared.

This website is owned and managed by

Carol A. Mueller, German to English Translatorwww.translategerman.com has been my website since March 1998.